


choices

by borzbois



Series: we're gonna make it this time, darling [3]
Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Angst, Borderline Personality Disorder, Canon Compliant, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/F, Hurt/Comfort, Mind Control, Mind Control Aftermath & Recovery, Mutual Pining, Recovery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-11
Updated: 2020-08-11
Packaged: 2021-03-05 22:20:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 757
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25832674
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/borzbois/pseuds/borzbois
Summary: and all of my heroes die all alone / help me hold onto youAlways, always reaching for Adora.
Relationships: Adora/Catra (She-Ra)
Series: we're gonna make it this time, darling [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1855054
Comments: 2
Kudos: 42





	choices

All her life, Catra has been made of venom.

She bares her teeth and extends her claws, hackles raised at the slightest hint of a threat, ready to pounce. It's not like she wants it to be this way – it makes exhaustion creep through her veins every minute of the day, wondering what breath will be her last. 

But what else does she know? How else is she supposed to survive? 

She sits, curled up on a mattress in yet another strange ship of a time and place from long ago. Through the reflection in the window, she can see the way Adora stares at her back, the way her hands twitch, wanting to touch her, to comfort her the same way she always does. But there is hesitation in her eyes, uncertainty—and she can taste it. 

She can't blame Adora for it, either, no matter how badly that may be her first instinct. No, she knows that she deserves the hesitation, that everything she's done warrants this. 

Slowly, Catra turns to look behind her, the shuffling of her sheets loud in the otherwise quiet room, save for perhaps the white noise of the ship's constant humming. She can feel her heart thrum in her throat, erratic and pulsing beneath the skin. The way Adora's looking at her makes it race even faster, tears threatening to well up in her eyes. Their eyes meet, forlorn and wanting and just _tired_. Catra reaches behind her to take Adora's hand in hers. 

Despite everything that's happened, here she is again, reaching for Adora. 

Always, always reaching for Adora. 

Adora squeezes her hand back almost instantly, as if she's terrified that if she lets go she'll never have another chance again. Just this small gesture brings a fluttering warmth to Catra's heart, despite that the desperation in it breaks her heart a little. She can feel their heartbeats thrumming against one another, so many words they want to say but don't know how. So many ways to apologize but they don't know where to start—so instead they stay like this in the quiet, hands touching but still leagues away from one another. 

Catra doesn't want to ruin this moment. She knows she will if she dares to open up her mouth. 

Catra is just so overwhelmed. Her head hurts, her body aches, and she is just so _tired_. Tired of fighting, tired of being alone, tired of pulling out the shards of her own broken ego and using them to hurt. Horde Prime slithered into her mind and replaced her venom with his own and then bled her out of it all. For the first time in a long time, rage doesn't simmer beneath her skin, slowly boiling her alive. 

For the first time in a long time, she's ready to be vulnerable. 

"Please," she finally croaks, her delicate grip tightening around Adora's hand. Her voice cracks, throat rough from her screaming, crying—all things she doesn't _do_. But she feels so broken, so exposed in this moment. She feels as if all of her edges have been pulled out, piece by piece, her broken body left to bleed out the hurt. 

She doesn't want to do it alone this time. 

"Please," she repeats, a little clearer this time. "Please, Adora... Stay." 

She watches Adora's face change, soften—a kind of heartbreak in her eyes that Catra has seen too many times before. That she has caused too many times before. Slowly, Adora sits next to her on the bed, gingerly, as if she's afraid of scaring Catra away. Their hands grasp one another in the empty space between where they sit. 

For a moment, Catra looks at their hands, reminded of growing up together. Of the long, cold nights spent huddled together trying to stave off the nightmares. The way Adora would pull her head into her lap and run her fingers through Catra's hair. Hum some tune that she didn't know, but comforted her nonetheless. 

Then, Adora take a shuddering breath—

> —"Hey, Catra." 

Her voice is barely a whisper, soft and broken-hearted in all the right places. 

To Catra, it sounds like the sweetest song. It makes her heart wrench in her chest, butterflies fluttering along inside of her stomach. 

"Hey, Adora." 

"I missed you, you know."

Catra's eyes widen, tears pricking in her eyes that she quickly blinks away. She has to clear her throat for a moment before she can reply, trying not to notice the way her voice cracks. 

"I missed you, too."


End file.
